Team Canada dominated the Trofeu Internacional Municipio Anadia track competition in Portugal over the weekend, winning five gold medals, plus two silver and three bronze medals, at this UCI C1 sanctioned event. Following the Track World Cup in Berlin, Germany, the previous weekend, Cycling Canada held a training camp in Portugal, bringing in some NextGen riders to join the World Cup riders already in Europe.

“The racing here in Portugal has been intense," said Kris Westwood, Head of Performance Operations at Cycling Canada. "UCI points are so valuable in track now that a lot of nations are targeting these C1 events. There are a lot of good riders here, so the level is pretty close to a World Cup. It was great to see two of our newest sprinters, Kelsey Mitchell and Nick Wammes, win their first international events, and Allison Beveridge and Derek Gee both won their Omniums in commanding fashion, which puts us on really solid footing to qualify for Worlds this year. That's a crucial part of our Olympic qualification plan, so it's good to see it coming together."

Canadian riders won both the men's and women's Sprint competitions, with NextGen riders Nick Wammes and Kelsey Mitchell doing the honours. In the Omniums, Allison Beveridge won the women's and Derek Gee the men's, while Jay Lamoureux took the fifth gold medal in the men's Individual Pursuit. Annie Foreman-Mackey [women's Points Race] and Mitchell [women's Keirin] each added silver medals to the tally, while three riders won bronze - Je'land Sydney [men's Sprint], Amelia Walsh [women's Keirin] and Lamoureux [men's Points Race].

For Mitchell, it was a tremendous start to her first international campaign, "It felt great! It was my first time racing under the Canadian colours, so I am glad I was able to represent Canada well and walk away with two medals!"

"My win in the sprint competition this weekend was a big step forward for me in my development," said Nick Wammes. "This was my first major podium outside of Canada. Having to go to three rides in both the semi-finals and Finals was tough, but I am happy that I was continually able to put out good races after a long day. I am very excited for what's to come."

Derek Gee, Canadian National Champion (Omnium) "It was a great weekend of really hard racing in a world class field. It was a crazy points race with the lead going back and forth between riders and the win being decided in the last sprint, but I’m really glad I could finish it off!"